WEH Westcoast Hosp Cp

Red Lion and WestCoast Hotels Launch Enhanced GDS Connectivity on the New MICROS Opera Central Reservations Platform Travel Agents Benefit by Receiving Access to Real-Time Rates and Availability SPOKANE, Wash., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WestCoast Hospitality Corporation (NYSE:WEH), representing Red Lion and WestCoast Hotels in the U.S. and Canada, now participates at the highest level of connectivity in the three largest Global Distribution Systems (GDS') serving travel agents in North America. This new level of functionality was implemented by leveraging the enhanced GDS interface of MICROS Opera Central Reservations platform by MICROS Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRS). The GDS' are the sales and inventory distribution backbone for travel agents, in-house corporate travel departments, and many of the Internet distribution systems. In an effort to increase travel agent hotel sales, the GDS' recently launched data integrity initiatives that provide their customers with data sourced directly from a hotel company's reservations system. This new level of connectivity is referred to in the industry as "Next Generation Seamless." In short, this enhancement provides GDS users with real-time rates and availability that is 100% identical to the information used by a hotel company's own reservations staff. This increased accuracy allows travel agents to sell more confidently and reduces the instances where the GDS' are bypassed as travel agents book via telephone to assure their clients the lowest rates. Galileo Inside Shopper, Worldspan Integrated Hotel Source, Sabre Direct Connect Shop, the respective GDS' Next Generation Seamless products, were implemented by WestCoast between July and September, 2004. The certification process is underway with Amadeus to provide their customers with enhanced connectivity via their next-generation seamless product, Dynamic Access. A cutover date is expected to be announced shortly. "Travel agents remain a very important market channel for our hotels," said Barry Hughes, VP - Marketing and Distribution for WestCoast Hospitality. "While many travel vendors are turning their backs on travel agents and trying to displace them, they still play an important role in the fulfillment process for many leisure and corporate customers. Our investment in Next Generation Seamless Connectivity should be viewed by our travel agent partners as our commitment to their future success," said Hughes. Hughes added, "We were the launch customer for the MICROS Opera Central Reservations platform eighteen months ago, and since then we've continually offered new booking enhancements to make it easier for travel agents to sell our hotels. Agents have responded in kind, and have commented on the increased ease and confidence in booking our hotels electronically through the MICROS Opera Central Reservations system." "We are very pleased to see customers like WestCoast Hospitality use the tools we have developed to grow their businesses and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace," said Tom Giannopoulos, Chairman and CEO for MICROS Systems. "We developed the new Opera platform that was launched by WestCoast, to provide hotel companies with access to the tools and functionality once limited to only the largest hotel brands," Giannopoulos added. WestCoast Hospitality is the first independent hotel company of its size to participate in the GDS Next Generation Seamless programs. "To be successful in hotel automation, MICROS must keep its customers on the leading edge of technology, with the broadest connectivity to the GDS and ADS Channels," Giannopoulos said. About WestCoast Hospitality WestCoast Hospitality Corporation is a hospitality and leisure company primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development and franchising of mid-scale, full service hotels under its WestCoast(R) and Red Lion(R) brands. In addition, through its entertainment division, which includes its TicketsWest.com, Inc. subsidiary, it engages in event ticket distribution and promotes and presents a variety of entertainment productions. G&B Real Estate Services, its real estate division, engages in traditional real estate-related services, including developing, managing and acting as a broker for sales and leases of commercial and multi-unit residential properties. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities law, including statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, projections of future events or performance and underlying assumptions (many of which are based, in turn upon further assumptions). The forward-looking statements in this press release are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, matters discussed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the 2003 fiscal year and in other documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. About MICROS Systems MICROS Systems, Inc. provides enterprise applications for the hospitality and retail industries worldwide. Over 150,000 MICROS systems are currently installed in table and quick service restaurants, hotels, motels, casinos, leisure and entertainment, and retail operations in more than 130 countries, and on all seven continents. In addition, MICROS provides property management systems, central reservation and customer information solutions under the brand MICROS-Fidelio for more than 15,000 hotels worldwide, as well as point- of-sale and loss prevention products through its subsidiary Datavantage for more than 50,000 specialty retail stores worldwide. MICROS stock is traded through NASDAQ under the symbol MCRS. For more information on MICROS and its advanced information technology solutions for the hospitality industry, please contact Louise Casamento, Director of Marketing at (443) 285-8144 or (800) 638-0985. You can also visit the MICROS website at http://www.micros.com/ or send an email to . DATASOURCE: MICROS Systems, Inc. CONTACT: Julie Langenheim, Executive Services and Investor Relations Manager of WestCoast Hospitality Corporation, +1-509-777-6322, , or Louise Casamento, Director of Marketing of MICROS Systems, Inc., +1-443-285-8144, or +1-800-638-0985 Web site: http://www.micros.com/ http://www.westcoasthotels.com/

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